The present invention generally relates to a connector for monitoring the flow of conductive fluid. More particularly, the present invention relates to a tube carrying contact pins that form an electrical circuit with conductive printer ink flowing through the tube.
A typical inkjet printer includes an ink cartridge that receives electrical signals to dispense certain colors and amounts of ink onto paper in particular patterns. The ink cartridge includes a printer pen connected to an ink reservoir. The printer sends an electrical signal or “hit” to the printer pen to dispense the desired amount and color of ink. The printer pen draws ink from the ink reservoir to perform the job. The printer monitors the levels of ink left in the ink cartridge by counting the number of electrical signals or hits sent to the printer pen to dispense ink. It is known that after a predetermined number of hits, no more ink will be left in the ink cartridge. The printer thus monitors how much ink is left in the ink cartridge by approximation. That is to say, the printer calculates how much ink is in the ink cartridge by the number of hits that have already been delivered to the printer pen to dispense ink from a full ink reservoir.
The conventional printer cartridge suffers from a number of drawbacks. First, the method of monitoring ink levels by approximation is imprecise and unreliable. The number of hits required to deplete each fresh batch of ink in the ink reservoir can vary. Therefore, the number of hits read by the printer may indicate that ink is still left in the ink reservoir when in fact all of the ink has been depleted. Such a lack of specificity in monitoring ink supplies can be troublesome if an operator goes into a printing job believing enough ink is left in the ink cartridge to complete the job and then the printer runs out of ink midway through the job.
A need exists for an ink monitoring system that addresses the above noted problems and others experienced heretofore.